random reflections

Memos, Mail, Me: Weekend Road Trip

Waving to Sian and other Monday Memo Makers! Today’s post is another long and photo heavy one as we spent the holiday weekend on the road to visit my brother in the Hudson Valley. He recently moved from the east side of the Hudson to the west side. He purchased a condo in Highland, NY and it’s a great location, just five minutes from the Mid-Hudson Bridge, and only 10-15 minutes to the golf course where he plays several times a week.

Just a short walk through the condo development brings you to the Hudson Valley Rail Trail which now runs from Highland to Hopewell Junction. We walked to the Hudson Valley Walkway on Friday afternoon, about four miles round trip. On Sunday we walked in the other direction for about 1.5 miles and then into the village to purchased some homemade sausages from a local butcher.

Sunday afternoon we spent several lovely hours with family. We got a chance to meet Rowan, only five days old, and get acquainted with Finn, a happy and very active two year old.

My niece, Stephanie with Rowan

My niece, Julie, with Finn

When I was a sophomore in high school, my family moved from rural Ohio to a small college town in New York. Both Dane and I graduated from New Paltz High School.

It had been quite a few years since I’d been back to visit. Since this was Memorial Day weekend, we started at the cemetery where both my parents are buried. My mom died in 1969 and my dad in 1998. It’s hard to comprehend how long they’ve been gone.

Then we did a little tour of the town---past the two houses we lived in, and the church where Tracy and I were married---44 years ago this July.

We were only the second couple to be married in the newly reconstructed church. As you can see, it’s very small so there is no organ. Instead my father arranged for a harpsichord and recorded. My only regrets about the wedding are that we didn’t record it, and we didn’t have a professional photographer.

On Saturday, Tracy and I took Metro North to New York City. The railroad runs right along the Hudson River almost all the way from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central Station. This is a photo of West Point across the river as we sped along.

Our first stop was the Guggenheim Museum to see the current exhibit, “Visionaries: Creating a Modern Guggenheim.”

It’s the first time in years that the Guggenheim has showcased their permanent collection. Arranged chronologically from an early Pissarro (1867) to a late 1940’s Pollack, it’s a fascination look at some wonderful art as well as an opportunity to learn how Guggenheim amassed this fabulous collection. Some of the works were familiar to me, but I discovered others I loved, but had never heard of before. I loved the colors and geometric shapes of this painting by Bauer.

After a delightful lunch at Table d’Hote on 92^nd Street, we stopped at The Strand ("18 Miles of Books")to kill some time before our timed tickets for the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Luckily we had no wait at either the Guggenheim or the 9/11 Memorial Museum, although the latter got very crowded before we finished the exhibits. It’s a sobering experience, made even more sobering by the recent tragic events in Manchester. You quickly realize how profoundly the world has changed following this attack. Understandably, no photos are allowed inside the main exhibits.

This photo is of a fascinating display hung in an outer hall. It’s made up of 2, 983 individual pieces of watercolor paper representing each of the victims of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center and those killed in the 9/11 attack. It’s entitled “Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning.” The artist, Spencer Finch, painted each square in a different shade of blue.

The color of the sky remains one of my strongest memories of that terrible day. I heard of the attack as I walked my fifth grade class into an assembly. It was determined that we would not tell the children about the event, believing that their parents would be better able to handle sharing that horrible event. It was truly surreal to continue to teach on that bright, sunny day as if nothing had happened.

We’ve spent today, Memorial Day, driving home. Like those who sacrificed their lives the rescue efforts after the 9/11 attacks, this is a day to remember the sacrifice and service of those who have worked so hard to defend a free world.

The photo taken from the train, and this one of the flag flying on the Mid-Hudson Bridge were taken with my iPhone. All the rest were taken with my new mirrorless camera. Although I'm frustrated by the fact that my version of Lightroom can't read the Raw photos from the Olympus, I'm quite happy with the camera. The color and sharpness are good, and it was certainly a delight to have a camera that weighed a fraction of my other cameras during a long day in New York City as well as on our walks. I still need to figure out some of the options on the camera, but overall, I'm very please with it.

And what about the mail?

Well, mostly junk and bills. But the new Simon Says Card Kit arrived with a wonderful stamp set geared toward weddings. Perfect timing, as we have three weddings to attend between now and early October. I also got a book I ordered before we left from Amazon by Patterson Freeman. When I was at the Strand, I picked up a book by the same author that had gone out of print. I read some of it on the trip, and had determined it was a good buy. Imagine my surprise to arrive home and discover the book I ordered is an update version of the same book! Well, now a friend will get the book from the Strand, so it won't go to waste.

 

The Card Concept: Freshly Elegant

Today is Sarah and Adam's 11th anniversary---how is that possible!!! Nonetheless it is, and I have a card for them inspired by The Card Concept: Freshly Elegant challenge. Here's the inspiration photo:

I was inspired by the colors that are throughout the photos--pinks--light and dark--yellow and golden colors. The card itself is based on one I pinned awhile ago. I liked it so much I bought the die. 

I watercolored a background and then added some splatters with Studio Calico's "Piglet" spray. Neither are fortes of mine, but this time I was satisfied with the result. The gorgeous "Stacked Hearts" die is from Simon Says and I die cut it three times and layered them. The sentiment from an old Papertrey Ink set "Mat Stack 3" was white embossed on a scrap of black cardstock that was then cut with a banner die from My Favorite Things.

The watercolored panel was cut down just a bit and layered onto a Memory Box card. One of the interesting feature of The Card Concept challenge is to identify your card by its style. I think 90% of my cards fall under the Clean and Simple category, but in this case I think "Clean and Graphic" might be the better choice. You can find the explanations for the different styles right here. How would you classify this one?

Welcome, Little Ones

As I noted on Wednesday, my niece had a baby girl on Tuesday. Hopefully, I'll have photos for my Monday Memo post, but I thought I'd share the card I made for her as well as one I made for one of the refugees I work with at the refugee center who had a little boy last Friday.

The Papertrey Ink Make-it Mini Market kit, "Wee Folk" is turning out to be my go-to for baby cards. Both of these cards utilize parts of the kit.

I die cut the card from the "Don't Forget to Write" Market Kit in Lovely Lady cardstock. The patterned paper is from Pebble's "Lullaby" pack. I just love the papers in that 6X6 pad. The bunny and the "welcome" sentiment come from "Wee Folk," and the die cut baby cut in Lovely Lady and Hibiscus Burst are from the "Wonderful Words: Baby" set---also Papertrey Ink.

The card for the little boy uses one of the kit's patterned papers. They practically make the card all by themselves. 

All I did was cut it out with a stitched rectangle die and mount it on an Ocean Tides card. I die cut a deer, popped it up with some dimensional tape, and added two enamel dots to the hearts to finish it off. I think I've made more baby cards in 2017 already than I did in the last two years combined. Lots of fun!

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Furry Friends

It's been awhile since I participated in a Simon Says Challenge, but I wanted to break out the Simon Says April Card Kit. The Furry Friends challenge was a perfect fit for it. I knew when the kit arrived, I'd have lots of opportunities to use it. This card is for my grand-nephew who turned two on Monday. The stamp set is called "Wild Cuddly Critters," and features four animals. I managed to use three of the four on this card, and it's also the very first pop-up card I've made.

I used some patterned paper from Lawn Fawn's "Into the Woods" pack, die cut one of Lawn Fawn's "Meadow Borders" from New Leaf paper, and fussy cut the little lion. The balloons were stamped and die cut from Papertrey Ink's "Dress-up Dolls: Birthday." The number 2 is a PTI "By the Number" die.

Simon Says had a Mother's Day sale and I picked up the Meadow Borders, some tree border dies, and a set of "Everyday Pop-ups." I'm no engineer so it took me a little while to figure out how to get the pop-ups exactly where I wanted them, but I'm pretty happy with the result.

I used the second of the "Meadow Borders" on the inside along with some more of the papers from "Into the Woods." The sentiment is from Simon Says "It's No Secret" stamp set, from an earlier card kit.

I'll be hand delivering this card to Finn this weekend. He came very close to having a big birthday gift like Caleb---a little sister, but his was born a day after his birthday! We're off to see the new baby, and celebrate with Finn tomorrow.

Mail, Memo, Me: Musings

It was supposed to be a quiet weekend after a very busy week once we returned from Chicago. Somehow, it flew by, and here we are at Monday evening already!

Friday night we had dinner with Tracy’s sister and brother-in-law at a new-to-us Asian restaurant. Tom had a Sushi platter, but the rest of us went with a hibachi plate. There are a lot of family events this summer, and we got a chance to talk about logistics among other things.

Saturday, it was my Dining Room Ministry team's turn to serve lunch. We were short-handed, but managed to get a hot lunch for nearly 70 on the table on time. But it was a lot more hectic than usual. Matt, Betsy, and the girls came for pizza. I only got one good photo---of Madelyn once again. She sits still the longest, and hasn’t developed an aversion to Grandma’s phone or camera.

Yesterday after church, I went right to the craft room to make sure all the cards for May were finished. It was a marathon session, and I finished 12, but still would like to make two more before the weekend when we’re off to visit my brother for a few days. It’s been well over a year since my brother and I have been together. And there’s a trip to NYC planned for Saturday---haven’t been there for 16 years!

I finished a book this weekend (well, actually this morning,) and thought I share three books I’ve read recently that I can highly recommend. Two are nonfiction, and one is a recently published novel that I put a hold on at the library.

The first is Becoming Wise: An Inquiry Into the Mystery and Art of Living by Krista Tippa. Many years ago, Sarah asked me if I listed to Tippa’s podcasts, “On Being.”  Sadly, I never did. Based on many years of interviewing scientists, novelists and poets, theologians, and philosophers among others, Becoming Wise distills wisdom from these interviews in five sections: "Words: The Poetry of Creatures," "Flesh: The Body’s Grace," "Love: A Few Things I’ve Learned," "Faith: The Evolution," and "Hope: Reimagined." It is a fascinating and thought-provoking read. My To Read list grew a bit longer as I added books written by people Tippa has interviewed.

The Women in the Castle was the featured novel in the Indie Book List pamphlet I picked up in Nashville in March. I had to wait a few weeks for it to reach my name on the hold list at the library, but it was worth the wait. I’ve read more than my share of Holocaust novels over the years. This was no less devastating than many of the others, but the points of view were dramatically different. It is a compelling read, and the current political situation came to mind more than once.

I think I’ve read nearly all of Thomas Friedman’s books. His ability to tell a story to teach a concept is unparalleled. I’ve learned so much from him. He’s latest book, Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Acceleration, is no exception. The New York Times calls him an “exploratory journalist,” and in this book he explores the rapid change of technology, and why it’s nearly impossible to keep up; climate change and the impact it’s had on our political and cultural institutions, and the spinning market so connected to the acceleration of the internet. It’s a long book, but a fascinating read.

I also wanted to share a few thoughts and links on “Choosing Joy” and gratitude. I recently joined a new interfaith book group---Christian, Jewish, and Catholic. We’re planning to read theologically interesting and thought-provoking books. Our first selection was Marcus Borg’s Convictions which I’ve now read twice, and could easily read again.

One of the members of that group sent a link to a piece she wrote on Mother’s Day. It’s beautifully written, thoughtful, and compassionate. When I read it I recognized, once again, that I am blessed beyond measure. Gratitude is something I recognize daily in many large and small ways, but for some reason I’ve never been able to keep a gratitude journal for more than a month or two. It’s always bothered me, but this week I read a blog post by Anne Butera (who hosted the Handmade Joy Exchange) in which she reflected that when “life is more joyful, it’s easier to see the joy. It doesn’t take the practice of writing . . . to be able to see it.” Her observation was very comforting, and I’m very grateful that my life is joyful enough not to need a written list.

Enough of rambling. The mail brought my birthday gift (partially funded by generous gifts from my mother-in-law and my husband.) I’ve been eyeing a mirrorless camera for several years, and in January got to see one Adam had purchased. It does most of what my big cameras do, much more than my phone camera, and is less than half as big as the big camera. It won’t replace my big camera, but it’s small enough to fit into a larger purse for a day in the city or a long walk. It’s the first Olympus I’ve owned, and I’m just beginning to figure out the controls. I'll be testing it out in New York City on Saturday. Also in the mail was the stunning Build a Flower: Magnolia stamp by Alenew and a charming pair of scissors from Etsy.

I’ll leave you with two of the cards I made with the new stamp set yesterday for two upcoming May birthdays.

I watercolored this image, and mounted it on a smaller A4 card from The Paper Source.

This one I stamped with a combination of inks from Papertrey Ink and Simon Says. The Altenew layering stamps are pretty amazing. It's adhered to an A2 card from Memory Box and I added a few rainstones from PTI.

Hope your week is off to a good start. I'm waving (a bit late in the day) to Sian at From High In the Sky and the other memo makers!

 

 

Take Three Thursday

I'm joining in with the Take Three Thursday meme at Patio Postcards this week. The idea is to take 3 photos that are linked some how; by theme, by color, by date, by moment,  by points of view. Not only were the flowers beautiful when we were at the Chicago Botanic Garden, but we returned to find our peony tree in bloom. So here are three photos linked by color or subject:

And a fourth "cheater" photo to give you a bit of perspective.

Memos, Mail, Me: The Late Edition

Monday, the typical day for a memo post, was spent in the car. Traveling home from Chicago always seems much longer than going. Partially because we "lose" an hour coming back, but this time is was longer due mostly to summer road construction which starts in this part of the country as soon as it gets warm. We had good weather, though, in both directions for which I am always grateful.

This is a photo heavy post. We had a lovely time in Chicago. Our primary reason for going last week was to celebrate Hannah's baptism which took place on Sunday. One of the members of Sarah's congregation kindly took photos of the ceremony.

And a family photo afterwards.

After the ceremony there was a soccer game. Caleb scored two goals!

Earlier in the week, there was a special trip to Legoland for Caleb (and Grandpa, too, if the truth be known.)

And a chance to create once we got home. Caleb had this 450+ piece Lego set put together in less than a day.

On Saturday, Sarah and I drove downtown to a Renegade Craft Fair Pop-up. I've been interested in these ever since Sarah lived near San Francisco, and I first heard of them. They're only held in big cities, and somehow I've never been in the right place at the right time. The vendors had lovely wares, but I was a bit surprised at how small the event was; perhaps that's the nature of the pop-up.

Later that afternoon while Sarah and Adam attended a dress rehearsal of the youth musical, Tracy and I took the kids to the Chicago Botanic Garden. I love this place, and never tire of the model train garden (no photos there this time) or any of the other beautiful displays. This is my favorite photo from the trip because it shows so clearly how wonderfully Caleb and Hannah get along, despite the age difference. Caleb is a super big brother.

This was the first trip we've made during the spring season at the Botanic Garden, and the spring flowers were glorious.

Needless to say, there was plenty of mail when we returned. There was quite a lovely stack of birthday cards (a few highlighted below), two wonderful gifts honoring my OLW "Joy" from Honoré, and two new stamp sets which will soon be put to use for the remaining May birthdays and anniversaries (of which there are many!)

For now, I'm still trying to get unpacked and organized while keeping busy with multiple commitments that were on the calendar before we left. I hope things are going well for you mid-week!

 

 

 

 

A Trifecta of Celebrations

Today is Mother's Day in the United States which this year falls on my birthday, and thanks to some wonderful planning, is also the day of Hannah's baptism.

I have four cards to share today, and will be back in a day or two with a belated Monday Memo post. We'll be on the road heading home tomorrow.

First of all, the card for Hannah. I've known what I wanted to do for this card ever since I saw Betsy Veldman's card when "Petite Places: Church" was released by Papertrey Ink. There's likely to be another baptism in the family in the next year, and I'm thinking this will be my "go-to" design for baptisms.

I stamped Hannah's name on the envelope with a new-to-me stamp from Concord and 9th, "Perfectly Penned" in a light gray. Hannah's nursery is pink and gray so it's an appropriate combination. I used the same gray to stamp the details on the church.

The card base is the "A2 Vertical" die from Papertrey Ink that I was anxiously awaiting to arrive before we left for Chicago. All the other dies and stamps are also Papertrey Ink:  "Petite Places: Church", "Scene-It: Skyscapes," "Banner Styles," and a stitched oval from the "A2 Noted" set.

I also have three Mother's Day cards to share. One for my mother-in-law:

This is another card made totally with Papertrey Ink products. A friend loaned me her "Butterfly Hope" cover plate which pretty much makes the card all by itself. I die cut it from Plum Pudding cardstock and again with the dotted vellum. I added a small tag and some berries from the "Beautiful Berries: Spring" set. The sentiment is from an older anniversary set, "Pretty Peonies. "

One for Betsy:

And yet again, a card created almost entirely with a die, Papertrey Ink's "Mix and Mat: Scallops." The banner is from a My Favorite Things Blueprints set. 

And finally, for Sarah. 

I recently purchased the Papertrey Ink Mini Market Kit, "Lovely Laurels." With the exception of the bows which came from the "Gathered Garden" dies, the whole card is from the kit. I love the way the wreath is a partial die cut. The sentiment on the preprinted patterned paper seemed perfect for a mom who's celebrating Mother's Day as well as her daughter's baptism.

Sarah's also participating in a church musical this afternoon. She plays the part of God, which I find pretty amusing. I think she likes the role because she's up in the balcony where no one sees her, and the part does not require a costume. Adam is also in the play, but I'm not sure what role he plays. Between the church service and the play, Caleb has a soccer game, so we have a full day planned.

Here's wishing every mother, whether or not you're officially celebrating Mother's Day today, a wonderful day!

CASology Challenge: Commencement

We're away this coming weekend for a very special event, but we're missing two special graduations while we're away. Our neighbor is receiving a degree from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, but the really special graduation is for a former student of mine. I had Amy in fourth and fifth grade. She lost her mom to cancer in the middle of fourth grade, and she and I developed a special relationship during those two years. After she went on to middle school, we continued to get together for dinner pretty regularly until she graduated from high school. I didn't see her often while she was in college, but this past winter we reconnected. On Sunday she'll be receiving her doctorate in physical therapy. There's not much that would keep me away from the party and the ceremony, but I'll share on Sunday what did keep me away.

This card is for Amy. I used the colors of her college--navy and yellow/gold.

CASology is looking for lots of white space, this time it's lots of navy! The stamp and die are Papertrey Ink's "Celebration" set, stamped in Bright Buttercup. Using the MISTI certainly helped as it takes several stampings to get a good bright yellow. I embossed the smaller sentiment in white.

I'm linking this up to CASology: Commencement.

Five in Five: May Edition

It's May 5th, and I'm here to join in with Sandie at Itchifingers with her Five in Five meme on the 5th, no less! The goal is to take as many photos as you want in 5 minutes and choose 5 to post. It rained all day today, but finally stopped around dinner time, and lightened up for a little bit. I grabbed the camera and went out in the yard to find some signs that show that spring is definitely here. 

The first photo is actually one of Gerber daisies that were purchased at the grocery store. It's a good size container with three brilliant colored daisies---all for $7. It's finally warm enough to keep a planter like this outside.

Next up, one of the last of the daffodils. Tulips are in bloom in many yards, but the deer eat ours every year, so we've stopped planting them.

Our rhododendron is as beautiful as I can ever remember it. We had a less severe winter this year, so I'm wondering if that's why it's so lush. We have another one that is just budding now.

As I was taking photographs, a large bee showed up. "Buzz" was a prompt for the Project 365 in April, so I'll be posting this one for today. It's like the scavenger hunts. Even when I can't find it on time, I keep looking, and usually I find what I'm looking for eventually.

Finally, a shot of the hostas which are coming up as well. 

There's nothing but rain in the forecast for Rochester. Well, a snowflake is the icon for one of my weather apps for Monday. But we'll be in Chicago by then which (unusually) seems to have a much brighter forecast for the next week. I'm anxious to hold that baby girl that we last saw when she was 3 1/2 weeks old, and to catch up with Caleb, Sarah, and Adam.